Betina Zolkower

Native Argentinean Betina Zolkower has been living in New York as a permanent resident since 1986. She is an associate professor in the Middle Childhood Mathematics Program. Zolkower has a master's in educational studies from the University of Buenos Aires, and two years of graduate coursework in physics and mathematics, also at the University of Buenos Aires. She co-directs a study group of mathematics teachers and teacher educators in the south of Argentina (Grupo Patagónico de Didáctica de la Matemática).

Education:

Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center - 1996 (Sociology)

Areas of Expertise:

Zolkower's current research focuses on how teachers mediate whole-class conversations within the context of nonroutine mathematical problem solving. Her views on math instruction, curriculum design, teacher training and classroom research articulate a Vygotyskian perspective on teaching and learning, the realistic approach to math instruction (under development in the Netherlands since the late 1960s around the work of Freudenthal), and selected tools from M.A.K. Halliday's functional grammar.

Books and Publications

Zolkower, B. and L. Rubel. "Not Just Another Brick in the Wall." Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. Expected in fall. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2015

Zolkower, B., S. Shreyar and S. Perez. "Whole Group Interaction as Teacher-Guided Thinking Aloud Together: Supporting the Development of a Generalized Mathematizing Other." ZDM: The International Journal on Mathematics Education.(Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2015

de Freitas, E. and B. Zolkower. "Developing teacher capacity to explore non-routine problems through a focus on the social semiotics of mathematics classroom discourse." Research in Mathematics Education 13.3: 229-47. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011

Zolkower, Betina and Hanna Haydar. "Beginning Teachers and Non-routine Mathematics Problems: A Lesson Study Group in an Urban Context." Proceedings of the Thirty-first Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Atlanta.(Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009

Zolkower, B. and H. Haydar. Teacher Induction Summer Pilot - Phase II. Funds provided by the City University of New York for engaging 12 beginning mathematics teachers in a one-month lesson study group. $16,600. (Grants and Fellowships) 2008

Tow Travel Fellowship, for travelling to Bariloche, Argentina, to work on the project "Whole-Group Interaction as Teacher-guided Interpersonal Gateway Into Mathematical Meaning-Making: An Investigation in Two 6th-grade Classrooms." (Grants and Fellowships) 2007

Zolkower, B. and H. Haydar. Teacher Induction Summer Pilot - Phase I. Funds provided by the City University of New York for engaging 12 beginning mathematics teachers in a one-month lesson study group. $13,500. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007

Zolkower, Betina and Sam Shreyar. "Thinking Aloud Together: The Role of a Mathematics Teacher in Mediating a Whole-class Discussion About Percents." American Education Research Association. New York, March 24-28. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008

"Thinking Aloud Together: The Teacher's Role in Mediating Whole Class Interaction in the Mathematics Classroom." Winter Institute of Specialized Didactics at the University of San Martin, Buenos Aires (Argentina). http://www.unsam.edu.ar/escuelas/humanidades/escuela_invierno/programa.htm. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007